+ "Hell" - A Danganronpa V3 Chatfic +

A Prologue

Shuichi Saihara, the Ultimate Detective, woke up with a start. He blinked rapidly, his eyes finally focussing. He was paralysed in fear. Where was he? He was about to escape, about to end Danganronpa forever. But something stopped. The whole world froze.. 

"Saihara?" a voice called out in an analytical tone. He didn't recognise it at all. He shifted slightly in the bed he had woken up in. Drawing a shaky breath inwards, he turned his head towards the figure in a white coat. "Y- yes?" he spoke, startled and confused.

"Good, you're awake." they said, checking something off on their clipboard. "Are you aware of where you are?"

"N- No." Shuichi continued to stutter, almost forgetting how to form words completely. He was petrified. His head throbbed, partly from the bright lights surrounding him, but partly from the guilt and tension brewing in his mind. It seemed he had gone through with the plan. It seemed stupid, but who in their right mind would pass the opportunity up? It was the chance to be part of history.

He wished he hadn't.

"Wait- no- I- I do." he inhaled sharply. "Good." The figure spoke back, not looking Shuichi in the eyes. Shuichi sat up slowly, trying to take in his surroundings. Piercing white walls to his every side left him enclosed in a small room. A blaring, white light shone piercingly above him, causing him to continue blinking just so he wasn't immediately blinded.

"You were a... 'survivor' in what is being referred to as the world's first Virtual Murder Simulation. You remember this, I assume?" they asked, continuing to jot down things on a clipboard. Shuichi felt the trials flash before his eyes rapidly. 

The executions, the murders. The truths, the lies. The blackened and the spotless. Akamatsu, Amami, Hoshi, Tojo, Yonaga, Chabashira, Shinguji, Iruma, Gokuhara. Those he couldn't bear to even think about. Everything came flooding back at once, and it overwhelmed him. Were Yumeno and Harukawa safe? Or any of the other students - were their deaths irreversible? So many questions that piled up on top of each other - a never ending heap.

"Yes- Yes, I- I remember." he said, his eyebrows furrowing as he tried to keep his mind off of the immense guilt that stirred in the back of his mind, causing him to stutter. His discomfort was apparent, but the doctor paid no mind. 

"I- Is Yumeno okay? What about Harukawa? And Momota. And- And even Ouma. Everyone." he eventually spoke, finally finding the words and cursing at himself internally for being so powerless and meek.

"Yes. It was a simulation, Saihara. Nobody is dead."

The words kicked Shuichi down . Of course no one was dead. It was a simulation. The question was stupid. He shook his head slightly, before nodding and shyly smiling at the figure. Aside from the guilt and regret coating his mind, he was relieved. Kaede wasn't hung. Kaito wasn't suffering. Gonta wasn't manipulated. It was all okay.. All okay.

- + -

After a short mental evaluation test, Shuichi was allowed out. He was told of which students were yet to be woken up; just Tsumugi and Kiibo. The test subjects were all still high schoolers. They were to spend their time in a dorm for the next few years, obviously disregarding school breaks. The room order was much like it was in the experiment - slightly off-putting, but bearable.

. . .

Saihara-Shuichi and 2 others have been added to "Hell", with 11 others.